Ice-cleaner for trolley-poles.



No. 885,368. PATENTED APR. 21, 1908. J M OLIN GE R ICE CLEANER FOR TROLLBY POLES.

APPLICATION rum) NOV .23.1906

wam Mm %%MW JACOB M. OLINGER, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

ICE-CLEANER FOR 'IIROLLEY-POLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 23, 1906.

Patented April 21, 190.8.

Serial No. 344,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB M. OLINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at S ringfield, in the county of Clark and State 0' Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Cleaners for Trolley- Poles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accom anying drawings.

T e present invention relates to ice cleaners for trolley oles. Devices of this character as ordinaril y constructed are in the nature of attachments which are secured to the her or trolley ole simultaneously with the trol ey wheel, tliereby adding the weight of the attachment, which is sometimes several pounds, to that of the trolley pole and increasing the resistance to the tension of the sprin at the base of the pole, and, conse quently, diminishing the pressure of the wheel and the cleaner against the trolley wire at the time it is most needed. In order to overcome this difficulty and to provide an ice cleaner of this character which shall be compact in structure, efficient in o eration, of a durable character and relative y cheap in construction and which shall serve both as an ice cutter and as a conductor shoe to take the current from the trolley wire, I have provided a cutter which is substituted for the trolley wheel in a detachable harp which may be readily attached to or detached from the trolley ole as desired and which will be of less weight than the trolley wheel itself, thereby allowing the pressure to be increased instead of causing it to be diminished.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction to be hereinafter described, and then more fully pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device in its 0 erative position; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same looking toward the trolley pole; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line a; c of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken on the line y y of Fig. 2.

In carrying out my invention as illustrated in these drawings, I employ a detachable trolley harp which may be of any suitable construction, but I prefer that shown and de scribed in patents issued to me September 29, 1903 and July 26, 1904, and numbered 740,037 and 765,852, respectively. The harp disclosed in these patents comprises a tubular lower portion or socket forming part of a bayonet joint. The upper end of the harp is bifurcated to provide arms, as shown at 1 in the drawings, in which is supported a trolley wheel.

The ice cutter proper of my invention comprises a block 2 substantially rectangular in shape and adapted to be substituted for the trolley wheel between the arms 1 of the bifurcated upper end of the trolley harp, and is further provided with a bearing aperture 3 to receive the pivot pin or axle 4 which is secured in the apertures in the arms of the harp by means of suitable keys 5 and serves as a support for the cutter block. The block is provided on either side with a pair of lugs 6 adapted to engage on opposite sides of the arms 1 to prevent the block turning on its pivot pin 4 and to hold the same in a fixed position relatively to the harp. The upper edge of the block is provided near its opposite ends with upwardly projecting ears or lugs 7 which form between themselves a guideway for the trolley wire. That portion of the upper surface of the block which lies between the ears 7 is inclined, as shown at 8, so that that portion of the block will lie substantially parallel with the trolley wire when the device is in its operative position. The lower portion of the block is cut away at the opposite ends to form an inclined lower surface, as shown at 9, which intersects at an acute angle with the surface 8, thereby forming a cutting edge 10 adapted to travel along the wire to engage with the ice and accumulations of sleet thereon and remove the same, the cutting edge being held in engagement with the wire by the pressure of the spring at the base ofthe trolley pole which tends to move the pole toward the trolley wire. The block has both ends constructed after the same manner so that it can be re versed in the harp or the harp can be placed in either position upon the pole and the cutter will always present a cutting edge to the trolley wire. The block is preferably formed of brass and serves as a conductor for taking the current from the trolley wire, as well as for an ice cutter.

In the use of the apparatus, the block is mounted in a detachable harp as described and one of these harps may be carried on the car to be substituted for the harp carrying the trolley wheel when occasion may demand. The construction of these cutter blocks is such that there is practically no danger of breakage or of a disarrangement of the parts thereof and the arrangement of the surfaces is such that the cutting edge is self sharpen ing, and the wearing away of the material serves only to maintain a sharp edge on thecutter.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a harp, of a block mounted between the arms of said harp and 7 vided with a guideway, and a cutting edge adjacent to said guideway.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a harp having apertures in the arms thereof, of a block having one end extending beyond the forward edges of said arms at substantially a right angle to the length of said harp and provided with a cutting edge, axles carried by said block and adapted to engage the apertures in said arms, and means for holding said block against rotation.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a harp having apertures in the arms thereof, of a block having one end extending beyond the forward edges of said arms at substantially a right angle to the length of said harp and provided with a the combination, with a harp, of a block mounted between the arms of said harp and having one end extending beyond the forward edges of said arms at substantially a right angle to the length of said harp, provided with a guideway, and having its lower portion cut away at an angle to said guideway to form a cutting edge.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a har of a cutter comprising a block mountec between the arms of said harp and projecting beyond the front and rear edges of said arms, cutting edges near the projecting ends of said block, and guideways formed adjacent to said cutting edges. Y

7. A device of the character described, comprising a trolley harp, and a cutter block detachably mounted between the arms thereof and projecting beyond the front and rear edges of said arms, and cutting edges carried by said projecting portions.

8. A device of the character described comprising a trolley harp, a conductor shoe mounted between the arms of said harp and having a portion extending beyond the forward edges of said arms at substantially a right angle to the length of said harp and provided with a contact surface arranged diagonally of the length of said harp, and a cutting edge adjacent to said contact surface.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB M. OLINGER.

WVitnesses:

FRANCIS M. HAGAN, Jr., EDWARD L. REED. 

